Automobile door lock operator



Dec. 13, 1955 J, BEYMER 2,726,534

AUTOMOBILE DOOR LOCK OPERATOR Filed Aug. 18, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l as 10a 4 IOU-n I r40 90 92 i Fig 2 es sa James E. Beymer JNVENTOR.

Dec. 13, 1955 J. E. BEYMER 2,726,534

AUTOMOBILE DOOR LOCK OPERATOR Filed Aug. 18, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 3

James E Beymer INVENTOR.

United States Patent" AUTOMOBILE DOOR LOCK OPERATOR James E. Beymer, Lakin, Kans.

Application August 18, 1952, Serial No. 305,028

1 Claim.. Cl. 70-263) This invention relates in general. to: lock mechanisms, and more specifically to means for operating automobile door locks. I

The primary object of this invention is to provide an improved mechanism for operating automobile door locks whereby the doors of a vehicle may be simultaneously locked.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved operator for automobile door locks, said operator being in the form of an electrical system which may be operated from a remote point.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved automobile door lock operator which may be utilized for simultaneously locking doors of a vehicle, said operator being attachable to conventional latch mechanisms of vehicles now on the market.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved door lock operator which is controlled by a key lock of a vehicle for simultaneously locking and unlocking the other doors of the vehicle.

With these objects definitely in view, this invention resides in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of elements and portions as will be hereinafter described in detail in the specification, particularly pointed out in the appended claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a material part of this application andin which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a conventional vehicle having four doors, the vehicle being shown in dotted lines and a system for simultaneously locking and unlocking the doors of the'samev being shown in solid lines;

Figure 2 is a wiring diagram of the means for simultaneously operating the locks of the doors of the vehicle in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlargedfragmentary perspective view of a latch mechanism for one of the front doors of the vehicle of Figure 1 and shows the relationship of a portion of the lock operator for simultaneously locking the doors of the vehicle; and

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 4-4 and shows the construction of the control switch mounted on a key operated shaft for the lock of the vehicle door latch of Figure 3.

Similar characters of reference designate similar or identical elements and portions throughout the specification and throughout the different views of the: drawings.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that there is illustrated in Figure 3- a conventional vehicle door latch construction which is referred to in general by the reference numeral 10. It will be understood that the latch construction is of a type commonly found in modern vehicles and does not in itself form a part of this invention. Another form of suitable latch mechanism is disclosed in a patent to John H. Roethel, 2,499,- 111 patented February 28, 1950.

The door latch mechanism 10 includes a lock whose major element is in the form of a slide 12 mounted for vertical movement and adapted to prevent actuation of the latch of the latch mechanism. The upper end of the slide 12 is provided with a generally channel shaped element 14 which in combination. with the slide 12 forms asleeve 16 in which is disposed arm 18 of alever 20 for actuating the slide 12. The lever 20 also includes asecond arm 22 which is provided with adjacent its extreme outer end a pin 24. The pin 24 is normally attached to one end of a rod controlled by a push button extending up through the window sill of an associated door. It will be seen that when the pin 24 is raised the lever 20 is pivoted about its associated. pivot pin 26 and the arm 18 moves downwardly to lower the slide 12.

The latch mechanismv 10 is specifically designed for use on front doors of a vehicle and includes a key operated lock operator mechanism which is referred to in general by the reference numeral 23. The lock operator mechanism 28 includes a key operated tumbler 30 which has associated therewith a horizontal key operated shaft 32. Mounted on the inner end of the key operated shaft 32 is a crank arm 34 whose feed end is disposed between a pair of lugs 36 struck from, the bottom portion of the slide 12. It will be seen that rotation of the key operated shaft 32 will result in the vertical movement of the slide 12 to lock and unlock the latch of the latch mechanism.

The above described latch mechanism is conventional and is in no way a part of this invention.

It will be understood that the rear doors of a vehicle will be provided with a latch mechanism similar to the latch mechanism 10 with the exception of the key operated mechanism 28.

The push button and its associated rods for actuating the lever 20, which has not been illustrated, is removed from each door of a vehicle, such as the vehicle 38 illustrated in Figure 1 and is replaced by an electronic device in the form of an electro-magnetic device which is referred to in general by the reference numeral 40. The electro-magnetic device 40 includes a cylindrical bore 42 which has secured thereto a mounting plate 44 which may be secured to the interior of a vehicle door by conventional fasteners passing through apertures 46 therein. The cylindrical core 42 is provided with a central bore 48 in which is mounted for vertical movement an elon gated plunger 50. The lower end of the plunger 50 is flattenedas at 52 and provided with an elongated slot 54 in which is received the pin 24. The upper end of the plunger 50 is provided with an enlarged head forming a push button 56 whereby the plunger 50 may be manually operated.

Inasmuch asthe plunger 50 of the electro-magnetic device 40 may be reciprocated' in a vertical plane by either manually controlling the same or by the magnetic attraction of cylindrical core 42, it will be seen that the lever 20 may be actuated to lock or unlock the door latch mechanism 10 as desired.

Referring now to Figure 1 in particular, it will be seen that the vehicle 38 includes a pair of front doors 58 and a pair of rear doors 6%. Each of the front and rear doors 58 and 64) is provided with an electro-magnetic device 40 which operates in the manner described above. The vehicle 38 also includes a battery 6.2 which is utilized for energizing the electro-magnetic devices 40. The energization of the electro-magnetic devices 40 is con.- troiled by a switch tit mounted in series with the battery 62 and positioned at a desired location within the vehicle 38.

Referring now to Figure 2 in particular, it will be seen that there is illustrated a wiring diagram which includes the battery 62 which has one terminal connected by a ground wire 66 to a ground 68, the ground in the case of the vehicle 38 being its frame and body construction. Connected to the other terminal of the battery 62 in a wire 70 which branches off into wires 72 and 74 which extend in opposite directions around the sides of the vehicle 38, and their purpose will be explained in more detail hereinafter. Connected to the wire 74 is a wire 76 whose other end is connected to a central terminal 78 of a double-throw switch 80. Associated with the switch 80 of wires 82 and 84 whose opposite ends are connected to leads 86 and 88, respectively, one of the electromagnetic devices 40. The other electro-magnetic devices 40 are connected in parallel with the first electro-magnetic device 40 by suitable wiring which will not be explained in detail.

It will be understood that the electro-magnetic device 40 is of the reversable type whereby when current is applied to one of its leads the plunger 50 associated therewith is urged outwardly and when current is connected to the other of its leads the plunger 50 is urged downwardly. Due to this novel construction, the movement of the plunger 50 may be controlled by the double-throw switch 80 which may selectively supply current to either of the leads of the electro-magnetic device. The electromagnetic device 40 is also provided with a ground wire 90 which is connected to the ground 68.

It will be understood that the double-throw switch 80 is also provided with a neutral position whereby the electro-magnetic devices 40 are energized only temporarily to move the plungers 50 to their desired positions. Once the switch 80 has been returned to its neutral position, the individual electro-rnagnetic devices 40 may have their plungers 50 moved to a desired position for the individual operation of locking of the latch mechanism of an associated door.

In order that the electro-magnetic devices 40 of the automobile door lock operator, which is the subject of this invention, may be also controlled by the key operated lock mechanism 28 of the front doors 58 of the vehicle 38, the key actuated shaft 32 of each of the mechanisms 28 is provided with a switch construction which is referred to in general by the reference numeral 92. The switch construction 92 includes an elongated sleeve 94 mounted on the key operated shaft 32 and insulated therefrom by insulation 96. Mounted on each of the sleeves 94 is a double-ended elongated movable contact member 100 extending along said sleeve 94. The contact 100 is provided with contacts 102 and 104 on opposite ends thereof which extend vertically from opposite sides of the shaft 32 and which are adapted to be engaged with fixed contacts 106 and 108, vertically spaced above and below the shaft 32 respectively. The fixed contacts 106 and 108 are mounted in vertically spaced relation on a mounting bracket 110 of the door lock mechanism 10 and is insulated therefrom by insulated bushings 112.

Referring now to Figure 2 in particular, it will be seen that the wire 72 is connected to the switch mechanism 92 of one of the doors and that the bar 74 is connected to the switch mechanism 92 of'the other of the doors on the front portion of the vehicle 38. The wires 72 and 74 are connected to the double ended contact member 100 of their respective switch mechanisms 92 and the fixed contacts 106 and 108 are connected to the lead wires 88 and 86, respectively, of their respective electro-magnetic device 40.

Inasmuch as the double-ended contact member 100 of the switch structure 92 is connected to one lead of the battery 62, when the key operated shaft 32 is rotated in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 3, to raise the slide 12, the contact 104 will engage the fixed contact 108 and current will be supplied to the leads 86 of the electro-magnetic devices 40 with the result that the plungers 50 thereof are urged downwardly. Due to this connection, when one of the front doors 58 is locked the remainder of the doors of the vehicle 58 will also be locked by action of their respective electro-magnetic devices 40.

It will be seen that when the key operated shaft 32 is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 3, the contact 102 of the movable contact member 100 will engage the fixed contact 106 with the result that current will be supplied to the leads 88 of the electromagnetic devices 40. In this manner the unlocking of one of the front doors of the vehicle 38 will also result in the unlocking of the remainder of the doors.

in view of'the foregoing, it will be seen that with the automobile door lock operator, which is the subject of this invention, the locking of the doors of the vehicle 38 may be controlled from the interior thereof by the doublethrow switch with the result that accidental opening of the doors will be greatly reduced. Also, it will be seen that inasmuch as all of the doors of the vehicle 38 are locked upon the locking of any one of the same by its key operated lock, a possibility of accidentally leaving one ofthe doors of the vehicle locked will be eliminated.

The operation of this device will be understood from the foregoing description of the details thereof, taken in connection with the above recited objects and drawings. Further description would appear to be unnecessary.

Minor modifications of the device, varying in minor details from the embodiment of the device illustrated and described here, may be resorted to without departure from the spirit and scope of this invention, as defined in the appended claim.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new A lock control system for vehicle doors having a latch controlled by a lock mechanism which is selectively actuated by a plunger and a key operated lock, said system comprising an electronic device for attachment to the plungers of a lock mechanism for vehicle door latches, control means for simultaneously actuating said electronic devices to simultaneously actuate the plungers of the lock mechanism of said door latches, said control means being in the form of an elongated movable contact member mounted on and insulated from a key operated horizontal shaft and extending along said shaft and provided with vertical end contacts extending from opposite sides of said shaft, and a pair of vertically spaced contacts carried by a door latch above and below said shaft, respectively, and selectively engageable by said end contacts.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,262,651 David Apr. 16, 1918 2,001,787 Lakin May 21, 1935 2,006,624 Block July 2, 1935 2,031,523 Braren Feb. 18, 1936 2,212,251 Seelinger Aug. 20, 1940 2,218,038 Gafiney Oct. 15, 1940 2,339,170 Jacobs Jan. 11, 1944 2,371,370 Ward Mar. 13, 1945 2,606,052 Soreng et al. Aug. 5, 1952 

